


Vengeance of the Great Mother

by GibberingGhoul



Category: W.I.T.C.H.
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Horror, Human Sacrifice, Revenge, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 08:16:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20327965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GibberingGhoul/pseuds/GibberingGhoul
Summary: Caleb discovers Nerissa is trying to escape from her jewelled prison. Desperate, he journeys to an ancient land where powerful priests can solve his problem but not as he had intended.





	Vengeance of the Great Mother

_"O friend and companion of the night, thou who rejoices in the baying of dogs and spilt blood, who wanderest in the midst of shades among the tombs, who longest for blood and bringest terror to mortals,... look favorably upon our sacrifices!"_

\- H.P. Lovecraft: "The Horror at Red Hook"

**I**

For six months Julian's behaviour had grown furtive more and more. When he had dodged conversations, Caleb had assumed his father had been in a hurry. After all, both had been occupied serving their queen, and Caleb had also been swept into the tragedy on planet Arkhanta, from its frustrating beginning to its heart-wrenching end, thanks to his continued relationship with Cornelia.

Then Caleb had heard the groaning at night, which had drawn him to his father's bedroom to see the man twitching and trembling beneath the sheets. The groaning became whispering, and when Caleb had peered on his father, Julian had tucked his sheets around himself and assured his son that he had been alright, that he had awoken from another nightmare.

Caleb, too, had experienced terrors in the night, demons from the war against Phobos, the trauma induced by Nerissa, and the ambivalence roused by all that had transpired on Arkhanta; but he had suspected that the whispering had more cognition than a dreamer speaking aloud their dreams. Julian had been talking to someone: a God, perhaps, a prayer to the Oracle of Kandrakar, or even conversations with their ancestors. The young man had fretted but not as much as when he had spied a low, bluish glow in the middle of the night.

Julian had become scarce at the castle: he neither joined the queen and her court for supper nor reported directly to Her Majesty. He had claimed illness, but when his unnamed malady had not progressed, he had blamed his queerness on fatigue, and no one had contradicted him. The years had been unkind to him since the Battle of Greywoods, even after the Light of Meridian had been restored.

Therefore, the court had granted Julian fewer assignments and assignments that were less burdensome on the body; and he had also received permission to patronise the royal archives and library, in relation to his new work.

Then Caleb had happened upon his father's notes after the man had fallen asleep upon the books he had been reading. The words jumped at him: 'conjuration,' 'drawing forth,' 'liberation.'

An icy claw wrapped around the young warrior's heart. Nerissa had awoken from her self-induced trance. She was trying to escape.

The former rebel leader panicked. If he awoke his father and confronted him, the older man might deny the accusation. If he dragged him before the court for interrogation, he might deny it, and Nerissa, patient strategist that she was, might become inactive, hibernating in the jewel of the Queen until she felt confidant to resume the plan without interference.

With his horrible hypothesis spinning through his head, Caleb wondered to whom he could turn, whom could keep their temperament in check and their tongue still while the young general plotted his countermeasures. A thumb and a finger absent-mindedly reached for the jewel around his neck, and as his digits caressed it, suddenly he realised to whom he would turn.

A bright light, the colour of verdigris, surrounded the young Escanor. Once the light vanished, a raven stood in his place, and Caleb rose, flying through the castle, journeying high into the air, hurrying to the forbidding forests near Magenzian Falls.

**II**

Magenzian Falls and the wilderness surrounding it had gained fame for its ethereal beauty. Even during the reign of Phobos, when blighted creatures had lurked in lands they had never dwelt previously, the wilderness around Magenzian Falls had been mostly spared from their defilement and predation.

Then Julian the fierce Ruddy Wolf from the Battle of Greywoods had learned that his beloved, the Mage, lay entombed near the shores of the lake and river. The mother who bore him his son was not who he believed she was, and hours of tears were shared between father and son alike.

Therefore, as that grim revelation had spread, Magenzian Falls and its wilderness were no longer admired. Travellers (and lovers) had begun to avoid it, for deception, broken hearts, and a shattered family tarnished its beauty.

The forbidden status created an adequate home for Lord Cedric.

The raven landed near the grave of the true Mage (the woman whom should have been his mother), and he became human again. He called into the wilderness, perking his ears for a reply, before the trees trembled and weak branches broke before the might of the enormous snake-man.

Lord Cedric had sworn his fealty to the rebellion, though the price he had compelled Caleb pay in exchange for his loyalty had been steep. Nevertheless, the old serpent had honoured the bargain, though he had betrayed the rebellion for a moment when he delivered Princess Elyon to Phobos. However, Caleb had learned of the fear that had driven Cedric to such a betrayal, and eventually, Cedric had laboured to undo his evil, though at a great cost to his body.

The torment he had suffered had made him wary to live anywhere near Meridian, anywhere near people; not to forget, Cedric retained a host of enemies. Neither cooperating with Kandrakar nor aiding in the fight against Nerissa had erased the memories of the war and the crimes he had orchestrated.

Then Phobos had seized the Seal of Nerissa per a devil's bargain that the Guardians had made; but the loathsome prince had failed to honour all of it, refusing to return the stolen powers to their rightful owners. Again Cedric had aided in tricking Phobos and in restoring order, yet still, he had felt no comfort in the castle and had known that unlike his fellow defectors, reconciliation laid far from his grasp.

Therefore, the shape-shifter had found serenity near Magezian Falls—abundant water, adequate quarry, and peace in solitude.

Cedric's eyes widened when he gazed upon his young ally. The serpent changed into a man, and he embraced his friend, kissing him feverishly, gladdening Caleb's heart.

"I wish I came under better circumstances, my friend," said Caleb. "I fear something terrible is going to happen if I don't act soon."

Cedric bade Caleb follow him, and they sat beneath the Accolonian trees while Caleb recalled Julian's queer behaviour leading to the devastating suspicion. All the while, Cedric maintained a serpentine gaze, his eyes averting briefly to process each fact as it came.

"... which is why I'm here now," finished Caleb. "I don't want to, but I can already imagine what Nerissa will do if she gets loose. I'm sure she's already furious, but she's as patient as the Infernal Ram. O'hiyowo knows where she'd go into hiding and _who_ she'd hide as."

For a moment, hearing the name of the serpent God, spoken by Caleb particularly, elicited a smile on the shape-shifter's face. Then his fingers knitted together, and his eyes moved this way and that way. His eyes locked with Caleb's before widening, then easing, then staring at the ground before he finished processing.

"If Nerissa desires to be liberated," began the cunning creature, "then we shall give her what she desires, although that is as far as we shall go."

Then Cedric spoke of Her and Them Whom had the power to release Nerissa from her jewelled prison. He spoke of Their abilities, how even Phobos never dared to rouse Their wrath or solicit Them for Their allegiance or an alliance. He spoke of what Caleb must do to take the jewel from Julian and of how Cedric might not be able to accompany him through the entire journey.

"Once you've arrived at the temple, you shall tell the Excellent and Dreaded One of what Nerissa did to the daughter of Queen Chesed. Do not refer to the previous queen as 'Weira,' for that is the name the rebellion gave her. Once you have enlightened Her, present the jewel to Her. She and Her family shall know what to do."

"What if Nerissa tries to read my mind?" asked Caleb, and Cedric spoke of the fast he must perform, of the snake he must seek and the bite he must receive, of the God to Whom he was to howl his prayers on the night of a new moon. The measure sounded dreadful, but Caleb would obey. He had faith in Cedric's Gods and would follow Their biding accordingly.

"I don't know how to repay you," said Caleb.

Cedric smiled and replied, "Vathek makes the occasional visit. I don't if _you_ come here, either. In fact, I would adore seeing more of you."

The young man smirked, took his hand, and kissed it. He promised to return as soon as his plan allowed.

**III**

For two months, Caleb performed his duties with greater solemnity than typical of him, and often he retired to his home with increasing melancholy. As his spirits sank further into dolefulness, Julian's strange behaviour eased into near-non-existence. When he would ask of Caleb's day, the young man would sigh, "It was what it needed to be," before he would shamble to his bedroom.

More and more Julian worried before finally he approached his son to ride beside him through the royal consort's former hunting grounds.

"For fun," he said, "to take our minds off our work."

Caleb gave him a slow nod, and soon, they rode to a splendid patch of forest near a bridge, restored with the finest materials and skill of that time. They dismounted, and Julian led him across the bridge to a round theatre of grass, surrounded by trees, where Queen Weira's loyalists had gathered to make gay in the happy days before Phobos's tyranny.

While Julian regaled him, Caleb smiled, frowned, and smiled before he conjured out of thin air:

"Father? Do you ever miss... _her_?"

Julian cocked his head as Caleb continued: "I mean, my... mother wasn't who you thought she was, yet in... in the sorceress's twisted way, she came to love you... and love me. Even Yan Lin had confirmed it, though... though she had hesitated to speak any more of her."

The first rebel leader sat beside his successor, and all that day until the sun began to creep into darkness did Caleb pour out his heart: the emptiness he felt and the anger still clinging to his heart; of what he had witnessed on Arkhanta with the king whom loved his son to the point of a similar madness; the desire for closure, to know why she had committed the acts she had, even when all her actions could have led to the enslavement of Caleb's own beloved.

"I want to see her, though I know Queen Elyon would _never_ support me," he said, at which Julian wrapped an arm around his son. "I just... I-I've been afraid of going... going _there_. Going to _Them_, asking this favour of _Them,_ and she might get... They might not be able to contain..."

"Who... Who are _They_?" asked Julian. "And why would you ask Them for this thing, if it means endangering the Heart of Meridian? Nay, the whole universe?"

Caleb spoke of a whispered tale he had heard and the efforts he had gone to verify it. He had heard of powerful thaumaturges in the land of Lord Cedric's ancestors, ancients whom might have lacked the might of Queen Elyon, but they had enough, and they were phenomenally-skilled, more-so than the queen, and not easily deceived.

Paying them was no problem with the salary Caleb received, but he moaned and sweated over carrying out the decision. He had even suffered the temptation to steal the jewel from Julian, but he dared not. He could not do that to his father, to his queen-dom—

Then Julian removed the necklace. He seized one of Caleb's hands and placed the azure jewel into his palm, wrapping Caleb's fingers around it.

"I'm surely a fool for doing this, yet I trust you, Caleb. I have always trusted you. Be safe, whatever path you choose; and be wary of both Nerissa and Cedric's people."

Caleb felt the jewel pulse as he placed it around his neck. He embraced his father and vowed that he would not disappoint him.

**IV**

The journey from Meridian to the capitol of Lord Cedric's homeland required a month of travel. When Queen Elyon's court required an explanation, Caleb explained it was for leisure, despite it being a queer place for a holiday. After all, Cedric's people had kept to themselves for centuries, and they were not keen on visitors. Even Vathek, who had a friendly contact in the capitol, was cautious only to send letters, never contemplating a visit.

However, Caleb had a unique relationship with Cedric's people, particularly their spirits. He had earned their respect, so much so that they had bestowed the gift of shape-shifting to him in the form of a blazing-red carnelian, wrapped in the coils of a gold snake. The gift hung about his neck, often concealed beneath his clothes, and as the Guardian of the Heart of Kandrakar protected her otherworldly stone, so too did Caleb protect his.

Caleb was cautious, though, to travel with a guide. At Port Tristan he met her, a comely young woman dressed in a wine-red ensemble, her hair the colour of fire and eyes the hue of molten gold. She was definitely a shape-shifter, his companions had remarked (They had also asked roguishly, somewhat seriously, what his darling Cornelia would think of his accompanying such a woman). Then after administering words of wisdom, his companions bade him farewell, and Caleb boarded the ship with his stunning guide.

For nearly two weeks their ship sailed before arriving at the sister port, Iseulde. Caleb's guide, Lili, said, "I still fear to set foot outside this city."

Caleb kissed her cheek and said, "Come now. Cecelia wrote Vathek that 'the exiled one' had earned the right to a hearing. Any threat upon your life has been stayed."

"I know," she said, "yet I still fear Them after all I have done."

Placing his hand upon both jewels around his chest, Caleb whispered, "I'm sure the _Excellent One_ will be pleased once you deliver one of two people who tormented Queen Chesed's heir to Her."

Lili smirked and kissed the young soldier.

The pair spent the night in Iseulde. In the morning, they changed into great birds of prey and soared high above the land of the serpentine shape-shifters. Their aerial mode of travel reduced the number of days to reach the capitol, and their keen sight granted them a decent number of game to eat along the way. With few hindrances, they arrived at a vast network of rivers, leading to lily-covered shores and the lotus-coated lake of the capitol.

Caleb marvelled at the city. He had always envisioned a dismal, shadow-blighted realm, as ominous as the strangled dominion Phobos had ruled. Instead, he saw varicoloured serpent-folk slithering from merchant to merchant; smelled spices and salts with incredible scents being sold alongside strange but gorgeous flowers; and marvelled at rainbow array of textiles on display beside huts of shimmering ceramics and small carved figures of snakes, crocodilian beasts, and other reptilian creatures.

"Come!" bade Lili as she turned Caleb round. "We must go to the Temple of the Great Mother."

Then she changed into a great snake-man, green with brilliant yellow stripes and vermilion.

The shape-shifter slithered up the red marble ramp leading to the gaping entrance, which had been shaped into the yawning maw of a serpent, its silver teeth curved and shaped into daggers. Caleb paused as he gazed at the hideous sight, and he shivered as all six guards glanced beyond Cedric, their colubrine eyes narrowed at the Escanor.

"Caleb, come."

He obeyed, quickly joining Cedric's side as they entered the temple.

Low chanting echoed through the halls, as though from the throats of daemons. Kopallitli lanterns glowed scarlet, vermilion, and crimson, casting each parishioner in a ghastly light, rendering the serpent-folk more fearsome and the few humanoid folk more impish and ghoulish. Caleb smelled candle smoke and the burning of flesh as of normal sacrifices, such as goats and fowl and fish, but he also whiffed the hint of something that ruffled his neck, and he was thankful to Kandrakar that he saw none of the burnt offerings.

Cedric led him into another vast chamber, occupied by another hexad of guards—or rather priests, occupied with reading and writing until the pair entered. The hexad bared their teeth and hissed in their mother tongue. Cedric replied in kind, and the six gazed upon Caleb.

One of them grinned.

"She had felt a coming," hissed the grinning one, "felt that something was returning to Her."

Then the priest pointed to a large archway, as black as the entrance preceding the Inferno, and bade, "Go forth, little Escanor, He Who Serves the True Heir of Queen Chesed, you and the former traitor. The Great Mother awaits."

Cedric proceeded into the darkness with a splash, and his body vanished into bleak waters. Caleb froze as the dread in his heart grew, but as one of the two jewels pulsed, he changed into a serpent-man himself, and he slipped into the water, following Cedric's scent through the passage.

As time passed and his head and lungs began to ache, he collided with the end of Cedric's bulk, and he followed his coils to the surface. They had entered another chamber, the largest of those they had entered. Massive pillars shaped like thousands of writhing serpents towered above them. Numerous serpent-folk sat upon their coils, awaking from their meditations, their golden eyes gleaming with the fires of the Inferno.

Caleb jolted when he felt a claw slip upon his back, and he glanced at Cedric, whom stared deep into the temple, at the altar where sat the greatest serpent, surrounded by six pillars of the only natural light.

Rising upon her foremost coil, She was four times the height of a man and far more massive than Cedric would ever grow. Her blue was the blue of twilight, while Her pattern was the colour of verdigris. Her mane writhed like fire, writhed like infernal serpents, and Her eyes burned like the hottest flames of the Inferno.

"_Come forth, profane ones._"

Caleb cringed for he knew not the source of the command. All the temple resounded with a deep voice, a _collection_ of voices, speaking in eerie harmony, each one feminine but fearsome and not to be defied.

Therefore, Cedric and Caleb slithered forth, and as Cedric bowed before the Terrible One, so Caleb mimicked him (fain, since for the time being he would not need to gaze into those horrific eyes).

"_For what have you come?_" demanded the collection.

Cedric spoke in the mother tongue, for though Nerissa could not read Caleb's mind, the youth had feared that she could hear the world beyond her jewelled prison. Nevertheless, he knew mostly of what Cedric would speak: that they had come from the court of Queen _Chesed's_ daughter (at which, the chorus of whispering must have arisen, assumed Caleb); that Caleb carried around his neck one who had injured the young queen; of the suspicion that had been growing in Caleb's mind regarding his father and his mother; and of the need to contain Nerissa due to the threat she posed.

All the while, Caleb had observed the Highly Esteemed and Excellent Lady Olindoyo's body, for Her coils had twitched, the tip of Her tail whipping the floor at certain intervals, Her chest heaving angrily as She interrogated Cedric with Her deep growl of a voice. And when Cedric had finished, all Her subjects gazed upon Her and watched Her closely, too, as fear built up in the atmosphere.

Then low laughter, a _collection _of low, dark laughs, shook the temple, and Caleb coiled upon himself.

_What have I done?_ he wondered. _This... This seems **wrong** now. I just wanted Nerissa to **stay** imprisoned. I shouldn't have come here. Damn! What was I think—_

"_Rejoice, son of the conqueress!_" roared the Mighty Lady Olindoyo. "_For we shall set her free!_"

The shape-shifters roared and howled and chanted in their mother tongue. The jewel of the queen pulsed against Caleb's chest—in excitement or likewise anxiety, he knew not. Nevertheless, when a dark claw reached forth, and a voice bade him to relinquish the jewel, he obeyed with quaking claws.

**V**

As the Mighty Lady slithered from the altar, Cedric and Caleb moved swiftly to one side. The priest who had taken the jewel presented it to Her, and while She eyed that glass tear drop—so _insignificant _in size compared to Her—the priest and their fellows prepared the circle upon which She had rested. The priests lit six fires parallel to the holes through the roof, and they drew a vast circle within these six fires made from a queer white powder.

The priests stopped short of completing the circle, and they bowed before the Mighty Lady, their arms extended toward the sole opening. Olindoyo slithered and halted before the opening, kissing the jewel and laying it within the centre. Finally the priests closed the circle.

Flashes of violet light filled the temple, so brilliant that Caleb shielded his eyes. When the light faded, he peered through his claws and beheld numerous women, all great of stature and each of indescribable beauty. Even the fearsome Olindoyo had become a magnificent woman with cascading waves of jetty hair and skin the richest black, such as the wood from Solomon's Lover tree. Yet each one set herself apart from humans and many Galhots by the mask upon her face, the same colourful mask donned while in her true form.

Cedric changed as well and Caleb followed suit, and they watched when in eerie synchronicity the women lifted their arms high, inhaled, exhaled, touched their hands to their foreheads, touched their hands to their breasts, and lifted their hands to the sky again.

Then Olindoyo's voice echoed through the temple:

"Great Mother..."

"_Great Mother..._" echoed the congregation.

"... Unsurpassed in Dread and Wonder..."

"... _Unsurpassed in Dread and Wonder_..."

"She from Whom Her Greatest Servants are _Directly_ Born, what I have heard is what You have heard, and what I have seen is what You have seen. The jewel that I bestowed to the Foremost of My Coils has returned to the land of its birth, and she who has become trapped within it yearns to be freed.

"You, Fierce Mother..."

"_You, Fierce Mother_..."

"... have the strength to crack this prison..."

"... _crack this prison_..."

"... to crack the magic used to seal the old crack; You, Who has the power to shatter this prison and free the conqueress. It is My will that this be so, but if My will is _not_ Your will, so be it."

"_... so be it._"

Then they who prayed to the God closed their eyes and fell deathly silent. Caleb could barely see them move, even the inhalation and exhalation of their chests, as though they had become petrified. The air became stale and then hinted at that neck-ruffling miasma from earlier. Then a terrifyingly harmonious collection of voices, feminine and otherworldly and snarling, answered:

"_Sonaosise haid, hìl folauþfeiise haid..._"

The congregants lowered their arms and kowtowed before the altar, and from inside the circle arose thick smoke, the colour of ash and writhing, lashing, hissing as of hundreds of constricting serpents, in spontaneous origination. The smoke rose higher and higher before it split into six massive tendrils and accelerated out of the temple.

In the wake of the smoke stood Nerissa, her body wavering and head nodding this way and that way. Then she gazed upon the obeisant congregants, scanning the temple until her eyes met Caleb's.

The young man flinched.

"Caleb!" she exclaimed, taking a step in his direction. "My son! My beautiful, _beautiful_ son! I _knew_ you would come back to me! I'm so glad you—"

As soon as one foot touched the circle, a bolt shocked her back, and she recoiled. Caleb jumped, for he, too, had failed to anticipate it. Then he felt an arm wrap around his waist and one hand take one of his. Cedric's gaze had locked onto the sorceress, his eyes as wide as a snake's eying its target.

Nerissa sneered.

"If you knew what was good for you, Cedric, you'd get your _filthy_ claws off him."

Cedric did not reply, and Caleb tightened his own arm around him. Nerissa sneered again before she gazed upon the congregants, each rising with the preternatural stillness, not one sinew quivering like a graceless mammal.

"I suppose a debt must now be paid?" inquired Nerissa.

"Indeed," replied Olindoyo.

"What do you and your God desire, then?"

The mortal voices resounded as one: "_Folašivaosel..._"

As Olindoyo extended an open hand towards Nerissa, the sorceress gasped and clutched at her throat and chest. She coughed violently and doubled-over, while sickening cracking—_crack, crack, crack_—echoed in the temple. The sorceress shrieked and fell to her knees, clutching her sides and begging Olindoyo to cease.

"Wait—what are they doing? This is far too cruel—"

"_Do not interfere!_" hissed Cedric.

"But this is excessive, even for Nerissa!"

"She belongs to the Great Mother now!" snarled Cedric. "She has—"

"_—transgressed immensely_," rumbled Olindoyo, and when Her infernal gaze met Caleb's eyes, any courage he had lingering was devoured by Her flames.

"_The foremost of My coils begged Me not to injure her son or the traitor... but not __**this**__ creature; for this creature was unknown to her, and she enslaved **My** Escanor's daughter, and she made even the son fear for his life, for he alone could free the darling Heir._

"_This __scourge..._" She paused, drew her fingers into claws, and elicited a scream that Caleb swore would haunt his dreams and his waking hours for as long as he drew breath; a scream proceeded by blood inundating the floor beneath Nerissa.

"_... has earned her debt, and she shall pay it __**now**__._

Then she pointed her finger at Cedric and hissed in their mother tongue, and he bowed his head and uttered what must have been gratitude.

Olindoyo returned her attention to the sacrifice and rumbled, "_If you cannot bare the sight of justice __**finally**__ being served, then depart! For this ceremony calls not for mourning but celebration. __**Go!**_"

Cedric yanked Caleb violently, and he shoved the youth towards the archway, shepherding him out of the temple as Nerissa's agonised cries were overshadowed by daemonic roars and bestial laughter.

**VI**

Caleb awoke bundled in sheets at sunrise. He could not yet recall how he had arrived in the bright, white bedroom, the sound of the ocean crashing against the coast. Untangling himself, he stretched and inhaled deeply, rubbing his chest before realising that one of two necklaces had gone missing.

Feverishly, he tore the pillows from the bed, then the sheets, then up-ended the mattress, shaking everything and glancing beneath every furnishing under which the jewel of the queen could have fallen.

"Caleb?"

The young man gazed wildly at Cedric whom stood in the doorway, a plate of food in his hand.

"Are... Are you alright?" asked Cedric.

Caleb sighed and collapsed on the bed. Once Cedric had set aside his plate, he shut and locked the door, sat beside Caleb, and caressed his brow.

"I had the most... _horrific_ nightmare," said Caleb. "And now I can't find the jewel!"

Cedric's breath became still, and he averted his gaze. He shambled to the window, and Caleb rose.

"Cedric... Did we... Did They..."

Cedric spoke carefully, his amethystine eyes dulled by solemnity.

"Their justice is not the justice of Escanors, Caleb. Their justice is not the justice of Kandrakar. What you consider horrific, They consider holy, and if you had tried to interfere..." Then Cedric sighed and gazed into his eyes.

"I can see it in your eyes—the regret. Hmm... I regret it, too, but only because of how hurt you are now, how... how unexpected it was. _Uh!_ If She had just taken the jewel, taken Nerissa, and dismissed us sooner, you wouldn't have seen it... but that _is_ how They exact justice... or rather judgment. And after what that woman did to Elyon, using the gift that _Olindoyo Herself_ bestowed to Chesed, the _foremost of Her coils_?

"I... I don't even know how _I'm_ still alive, talking to you now, even though I _did_ help to clean up the mess I made. And as for Nerissa? To invite the wrath of the God-Born Ones is to invite the wrath of the Great Mother Herself."

**Author's Note:**

> Lord Cedric had sworn his fealty to the rebellion, though the price he had compelled Caleb pay in exchange for his loyalty had been steep. (universe) This fanfiction takes place in the alternative universe of Kiss the Snake Good Night. However, it divulges from KTSGN's true sequel, Dove Amid Serpents, by branching into the events of Season 2.
> 
> O'hiyowo (deity) O'hiyowo is one of three lovers taken on by the Ožea Ayiiðæ (the Great Mother) and is one of the fathers of Cedric's people. He is a trickster who bestowed the ability to shape-shift to each child of the Ožea Ayiiðæ, regardless who their father was. The story of why He did it differs, one being that He did it to save the lives of Aaronag children from one of the other peoples on Metamoor.
> 
> "Sonaosise haid, hìl folauþfeiise haid..." (Aaronagish) in Cedric's mother tongue, 'I shall free her, and you shall sacrifice her.'
> 
> "Folašivaosel..." (Aaronagish) 'Your blood...'


End file.
